Be Here Now: New Albums Reviewed 4-6-18 – 4-12-18

Alice Merton – No Roots EP – she’s got a great voice and has a blues rootsy feel with better than genre songs, the genre being Americana – B-

Alina Baraz – The Color Of You – 90s style r&b sex mood burns and sizzles for the most part, “Mind On Fire” is great – B

Alison Wonderland – Awake – Electronic singer songwriter, some of it doesn’t click but the Chief Keef song ain’t bad and “Okay” is a real keeper – C+

Blackberry Smoke – Find A Light – Southern boogie that sounds like a variant on old school .38 Special, but not as good – C+

Cardi B – Invasion Of Privacy – The kick is that she doesn’t have flow and sounds as though she is reading, which leads to suspicions she doesn’t write her own rhymes. Perhaps, but then tell me why song for song this is the best hip hop album of the year? You know the singles and there is even better here, “Best Life” with Chance The Rapper and the Peter Rodriguez inspired, Bad Bunny and J Balvin featured “I Like It” are standouts in an album of standouts. If you take off the singles, the album is a brisk 35 minutes and is better for its leaness. And the dreaded “Finesse” is MIA. The album is less a singular vision and more pictures in an exhibition of her life, and that should be enough – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A

CNCO – CNCO – Popular boy band almost literally a Spanish language 1D -formed after winning a Simon Cowell produced music contest for Univision, Grupo Mania they aren’t but the little girls understand this bubblegum – C+

Dr. Octagon – Moosebumps: an exploration into modern day horripilation – Kool Keith, Dan The Automator, and DJ Qbert’s first new album with the original line up since 1996 is pretty ace, I mean when was the last time you heared serious scratching on a rap album? – B

E-40 – Connected and Respected – The samples are RZA like and the two Bay area legends, E-40 and B-Legit, real life cousins, are pretty good on this playful album – B-

Kooley High – Never Come Down – They sound like a livelier Majid Jordan – B-

Kylie Minogue – Golden – Kylie has a country vibe… not interested – C

Hillsong Worship – THERE IS MORE (Live) – Indeed, there is more. 92 minutes more – MUST TO AVOID – D

Hinds – I Don’t Run – A little laid back for pop rock, pretty but disinteresting… still they can certainly sell a song – B-

Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog – A not untypical Saddle Creek post- Big Thief world, Frances Quinlan has a lovely voice and the songs are well arranged and serious stuff -but it could be catchier – B-

Kali Uchis – Isolation – Great voice, she is all over rap songs as a featured singer, and she is like a sort of quiet storm Sade without the jazz – B+

Lil Xan – TOTAL XANARCHY – Mumble rap and good stuff as well, this is the way drug music should sound, so fucked up it can barely stand, it woozes into other planets – B+

Mipso – Edges Run – Indie Americana with mandolin, mostly exactly as exciting as you think it is though “Take Your Records Home” is pretty good – C+

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – Years – Old school country rockers, gets a bit much but it is still very good “New Ways To Fail” is worthy of Old 97s – B+

Tchami – No Redemption EP – A DJ Snakes pal, techy EDM cum house – C+

The Aces – When My Heart Felt Volcanic – All girl Indie pop rockers from Utah -they look the part but nothing much is going on ten years into their career – C+

The Wonder Years – Sister Cities – I am too old to take these clowns seriously, Soupy “All In” Campbell is not a contender for anything but emo pretender and he has sucked on everything post-The Greatest Generation including this incredibly bad, hookless, tuneless piece of wank by an an egotistical monster – C-

Thirty Seconds To Mars – AMERICA – Of course, at least The Wonder Years aren’t these clowns – D+

Various Artists – Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined – I am not sure changing the gender on classic pop songs works as well as the LGBTQ community want it to… However, Dylan singing “He’s Funny That Way” alone is worth the admission – A-